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Investigating the Effects of Academic Coaching on College Students’ Metacognition

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Abstract

Academic coaching is an increasingly prevalent form of student support in higher education, although empirical research on the intervention is relatively limited (Robinson, 2015). Academic coaching is intended to advance student learning, well-being, and success in a context external but complementary to the classroom (Richman, Rademacher, & Maitland, 2014; Robinson, 2015). This exploratory study used a randomized control trial design to investigate the effects of academic coaching on college students’ metacognition, a primary component of self-regulated learning. We recruited undergraduates who had not previously participated in academic coaching and randomly assigned them to three groups: in-person academic coaching, online academic coaching, and control. All participants completed a pre- and post-test instrument that included the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI; Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Results showed that students who received academic coaching had increased metacognition as measured by MAI subscales. Increases in metacognitive awareness occurred in both the in-person and online academic coaching conditions. However, repeated measures ANOVAs did not reveal differences between the three conditions. Overall preliminary results suggest that academic coaching may be a promising student support intervention for helping develop college students’ metacognition outside of the classroom environment.

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Funding

This research is part of the Finish Line Project (P116F140018; Panter, PI; Demetriou, Executive Director), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s “First in the World” grant program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Writing and Learning Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 5135, 450 Ridge Rd, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-5135, USA

    Marc Alan Howlett, Melissa A. McWilliams, Kristen Rademacher, Theresa Laurie Maitland & Kimberly Abels

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, 2608 Erwin Rd., Suite 300, Durham, NC, 27705, USA

    J. Conor O’Neill

  3. Student Success & Retention Innovation, University of Arizona, 1428 E. University Blvd., Tuscon, AZ, 85721, USA

    Cynthia Demetriou

  4. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 235 E. Cameron Avenue, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3270, USA

    A. T. Panter

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  1. Marc Alan Howlett
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  2. Melissa A. McWilliams
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Howlett, M.A., McWilliams, M.A., Rademacher, K. et al. Investigating the Effects of Academic Coaching on College Students’ Metacognition. Innov High Educ 46, 189–204 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-020-09533-7

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